Heisman Trophy Winners: Top 20 NFL careers of all time

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Watching Barry Sanders run was like poetry in motion. The talented running back shifted gears, juked defenders and changed directions with relative ease, making even the best players in the league look like fourth grade footballers learning to tackle for the first time.

Again, the Detroit Lions have a running back make this list, but unfortunately for Sanders, he was unable to play for many winning teams while with the club.

Looking back at the 1989 NFL Draft in which Barry went third-overall to the Lions, The Green Bay Packers would like a do-over as they drafted one of the biggest busts in league history, Michigan State offensive lineman Tony Mandarich, with the second pick. Four of the first five picks in that draft have actually become Hall of Famers.

After a junior campaign in which he rushed for 2,850 yards and 42 touchdowns in the most impressive single season in college football history, Sanders went on to the NFL with high expectations.

Sanders quickly became known as one of the most ridiculously elusive running backs of all time and he had video game-like moves before video games were cool.

However, in July of 1999, Sanders retired from the game of football after just having notched his 10th straight 1,000-yard season, surpassing the career 15,000-yard mark. He later admitted that he was sick of losing in Detroit and the losing culture was getting to him. He finished his career with the third-most rushing yards in league history (15,269 yards) and 109 total touchdowns.

Throughout his storied career, Sanders was named to 10 Pro Bowls, was either first-team or second-team All-Pro in each of his 10 years, was a four-time rushing champ, two-time NFL MVP, named two-time NFL Offensive Player of the Year, NFL Rookie of the Year, has the most consecutive 100-yard games (14) and the most seasons with 1,500-plus yards (5).

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